Remembering the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor
Posted By RichC on December 7, 2011
Today is the day Americans remember those who served and were killed during the Empire of Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 – a somber day for 2403 lives cut short. In a statement, President Obama proclaimed Wednesday "National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day" and reflected on those who rose to the occasion. He commented that “their valor fortified all who served during World War II” and that “as a nation, we look to December 7, 1941, to draw strength from the example set by these patriots and to honor all who have sacrificed for our freedoms."
Oil still leaks to the surface from the USS Arizona – photos from our visit in 2006
Here’s both a simple history question that many may not remember … and an interesting story regarding the final wishes by some veterans who lived through the attack and have decided to have their ashes with their shipmates of 70 years ago.
- Of the 12 ships sunk by Japanese Navy planes in 1941, only the USS Arizona and “what other ship” remains memorialized in Pearl Harbor?
December 7, 2011
Lee Soucy decided five years ago that when he died he wanted to join his shipmates killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Soucy lived to be 90, passing away just last year. On Tuesday, seven decades after dozens of fellow sailors were killed when the USS Utah sank on Dec. 7, 1941, a Navy diver took a small urn containing his ashes and put it in a porthole of the ship.
The ceremony is one of five memorials being held this week for servicemen who lived through the assault and want their remains placed in Pearl Harbor out of pride and affinity for those they left behind.
If the answer isn’t posted in the comments below, it can be found in the story above by clicking the MORE link.
Comments